A front-desk conversation happens at grooming salons everywhere, dog-focused ones especially, probably once a week without anyone tracking it: someone calls and asks if you do cats, and whoever answers says no, and the call moves on. Nobody stops to price what that "no" is actually costing, because nobody's ever asked them to.
Here's the number that should make you stop and ask anyway. Cat ownership grew 5% year over year and now sits at 39% of U.S. households — 53 million cats — with the fastest growth coming from Gen Z and Millennial owners, according to the American Pet Products Association's 2025 Dog & Cat Report. Meanwhile, dogs still account for the overwhelming majority of professional grooming revenue — 87.63% of the U.S. pet grooming services market in 2024, with cats named as the fastest-growing segment going forward. Demand is climbing. Supply mostly still says no. That gap doesn't close itself, and it isn't going to close by accident.
What Most Groomers Get Wrong About Adding Cats
The instinct, when a dog-focused salon does decide to say yes, is to treat cats as one more line item on the same schedule in the same room with the same booking cadence you already run for dogs. That's the mistake — and it's a different mistake than the one covered in starting a cat-only shop from scratch, where there's no existing dog schedule to protect. You already have the lease, the staff, and the client base; the decision here is how to add a genuinely different service without letting it damage what's already working. It's not "another pet" — it's a different service with a different skill set, a different space requirement, and a different client psychology, and treating it like a checkbox extension of what you already do is exactly how a well-intentioned addition turns into a liability instead of a revenue line.
The industry's own trade press backs this up bluntly. Groomer to Groomer's own reporting on the decision notes that most grooming schools don't teach cat-specific handling at all — professional feline grooming is something groomers either invest in independently or avoid entirely, precisely because the bite and scratch risk is real and the medical consequences of a cat bite are worse than most groomers expect. That's not a reason to avoid cats forever. It's a reason to stop assuming your existing dog-handling instincts transfer, because in a lot of ways they don't.
Why the Standard "Add a Service Line" Playbook Doesn't Work Here
Generic small-business advice says: use your existing capacity, upsell your existing customers, add the new line where you already have the room and the client relationships. For most service businesses, that's correct. For cats specifically, it runs into a problem dog grooming never has to solve: a cat that can see, hear, or smell dogs while it waits is a cat that arrives already stressed, before you've touched a single tool.
This isn't a cats-are-precious opinion — it's the same standard veterinary Cat Friendly Practice environments are built around. The 2022 ISFM/AAFP Cat Friendly Veterinary Environment Guidelines call for minimal or no exposure to the sight, sound, or smell of dogs in any space a cat waits in or moves through, because a cat's senses stay on high alert around other animals in a way that genuinely affects how the appointment goes. A grooming salon isn't a vet clinic, but the physiology doesn't change at the front door. Groom a cat in the same open room where a dog is mid-dry and barking, and you're not adding a cat service — you're running an experiment on how bad a cat groom can get before the client never comes back.
That's the actual reason this can't just slot into your existing dog schedule and existing dog room. The fix isn't complicated, but it has to be deliberate.
A Framework That Actually Works
1. Pilot it before you renovate or hire for it. Block a handful of cat-only appointment slots — a slow morning, a slow weekday — before you spend a dollar on space or staffing. You're finding out whether your specific market actually calls for this, not proving a national trend applies to you.
2. Solve the separation problem before you solve the pricing problem. A dedicated room is ideal. If that's genuinely not possible, a real dedicated time block — the shop actually clear of dogs, not "we'll try to keep it quiet" — is the floor, not a nice-to-have. Skip this step and every other part of the framework works against you instead of for you.
3. Price it as its own service, not a favor. Cat grooming published rates run roughly $120–$180 for a standard full groom nationally, with lion cuts and specialty coats running higher. Price against that reference for your market, not against what you'd charge to squeeze in "just a bath" for a dog client's cat as an afterthought.
4. Invest in real feline handling before you book the first paying client. Given that most grooming schools skip this entirely, this is the gap that actually separates a salon that adds cats successfully from one that adds a bite incident to its insurance file in month one.
5. Market it as a real new offering, not a quiet addition. Update your directory listing, tell your existing dog clients (many of whom also own cats and have been driving to a specialist because you never mentioned it), and treat the launch like the new revenue line it is instead of something you're testing quietly and hoping nobody notices either way.
What You Can Do This Week
Monday: Call your insurance carrier. Ask directly whether your current liability policy covers feline services or excludes them — see what to ask for in detail — and get the answer in writing before you book anything.
Tuesday: Block two cat-only slots for next week. Pick your slowest window. Don't advertise heavily yet — just see what happens when you say yes to the next caller who asks.
Wednesday: Walk your own floor plan. Figure out honestly whether you have a real separate space, or whether a dedicated time block is your realistic option. Write down which one you're committing to.
Thursday: Look up one feline-handling training option. You don't have to enroll this week. Get the timeline and cost in front of you so it's a real decision instead of a someday one.
Want the Full System?
This post is the decision framework. The complete version — a real space-and-budget breakdown, the exact pilot structure to run before you commit to anything permanent, composite numbers from a working cat service launch, a phase-by-phase rollout timeline, and the specific mistakes that turn a promising cat pilot into a liability claim — is in The Dog Groomer's Guide to Adding a Cat Service Line.
FAQ
Do I need a certification before I can start grooming cats?
No, not legally, and I wouldn't wait on one before deciding whether to move forward. But real feline-handling training — not just "I've groomed a cat before" — matters more here than it does almost anywhere else in this industry. Most grooming schools don't teach cat-specific handling at all, which is a big part of why the bite-and-scratch risk scares so many dog-focused groomers off entirely. Get real training before you book your first paying cat client, even if it's not a formal certification.
How much separate space do I actually need?
More than a corner of the same room, less than most groomers assume. A fully separate room is ideal, but a dedicated time block — the shop genuinely clear of dogs, quiet, no barking audible from the cat's carrier to the table — gets you most of the benefit if a second room isn't physically possible. What you can't do is groom a cat mid-shift with dogs barking and drying two feet away and expect it to go well or to book a repeat visit.
Will my current liability insurance cover cat grooming?
Don't assume it does. Some general pet-grooming liability policies exclude felines or price them differently because the claims profile is different — cat bites carry real infection risk and often mean an ER visit, not a bandage. Call your carrier and ask the direct question before you book a single cat appointment, not after an incident.
What if I genuinely don't have room for a separate cat space?
Then the dedicated time block is your only real option, and it has to be a real block — not "we'll squeeze a cat in between dogs." Pick a slow day or a slow window, clear the floor of dog appointments for that block, and treat it with the same seriousness as if the room were physically separate. If you can't commit to that discipline, it's a legitimate reason to hold off rather than force it.
How do I price cat grooming against my existing dog price list?
As its own line, not a substitution. Cat grooming published rates run roughly $120–$180 for a standard full groom nationally, with lion cuts and specialty coats higher — treat that as a starting reference for your market, not a number to undercut because you're new to it. Undercutting to "be competitive" while you're still building the skill and the space is how groomers end up resenting a service line that should be profitable.
Is this worth it in a small or rural market?
It can be, and sometimes more than in a saturated metro — a small market with zero cat-groomer options nearby means you're not competing for cat clients at all, you're just the only phone number that says yes. Run the same pilot either way: a few real cat slots, tracked for a month, before you invest in space or training beyond the basics. Your own market's actual call volume tells you more than any national average.
The callers asking if you do cats aren't going to stop asking. The only question is whether you've priced out an answer better than "no."
Courtney
Cat grooming expert and contributor to Cat Grooming Directory. Passionate about helping cat owners find the best grooming solutions for their feline friends.